Why brand relevance matters to your business - Organic

Do you care about the relevance of your brand? You should. But you might be one of those people who think anything related to ‘brand’ is fluffy, intangible, and so probably doesn’t really have that much impact on your business.

Brand relevance isn’t about your logos, your colour palette, or your tone of voice (though they all play a part in developing it); it’s about whether or not customers have a disposition to buy from you. Without brand relevance you’ll struggle to sell. So this does have real repercussions for your business.

What is brand relevance?

In the simplest of terms, brand relevance is a customer’s preference for, or predisposition towards, a brand. It can be an important factor in not only whether a customer purchases from you, but whether they are prepared to pay a higher price for a ‘brand name’ product, and whether they stay loyal to your brand (if you believe brand loyalty is a thing, which is something for another time).

As a simple (and obvious) example we can look to an oft-used model brand: Apple. Thanks to the quality of its products, and the power of its brand, Apple can command a price premium for its computers, phones, and other devices. This continues to be true even though other brands produce similar devices that outperform Apple’s at the same, or even a lower, pricepoint. And when it comes to brand loyalty, it’s definitely the case that Apple has some of the most rabid fans on the planet. They’ve got high levels of brand relevance with their audience.

To give you a more visceral look at the power of brand relevance, it’s worth watching this once famous viral video:

Now that’s some strong brand relevance right there. Is he still playing on Nintendo consoles today? We can only hope.

What makes a brand relevant?

There are all kinds of factors that will make a brand relevant to an individual, but there are three basic conditions that have to be met across the board. These were outlined by David Aaker, Professor Emeritus at University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Aaker is a marketing specialist whose work has centred on brand strategy, and he outlined these three preconditions for brand relevance:

A product/service category exists – Clearly this is a biggie. Without a product or service to sell there’s no way you can sell to people. Although many modern day start-ups certainly do try.
A perceived need or desire for the category – So, you’ve got something to sell but nobody wants it? Pretty hard to be relevant. Again, that doesn’t stop some people from trying. But any brand that is selling something nobody really wants will struggle to be relevant.
Your brand is considered material to this category – This is really the killer point. What it means is: does your brand come into a customer’s mind when they consider the category, and is it considered an important or viable option? If people don’t consider your brand when they’re shopping for the kind of product or service you sell, then they won’t be spending with you.

What affects brand relevance?

There are three factors that have an impact on brand relevance. Over a series of blogs I’ll explore each in a little more detail but here’s the York Notes version:

Brand awareness – This is the essential foundation of it all. If people aren’t aware of your brand they won’t buy. Brand awareness falls into two types (prompted and spontaneous) which we’ll look at in part two of this series. As long as you fall into the set of brands that a customer is aware of then you have a chance they will buy from you.
Brand consideration – People don’t buy indiscriminately. Within the set of brands they are aware of in a category, customers will have a smaller set that they will actively consider buying from. So, for example, off the top of my head I’m aware of the following smartphone brands: Apple; Samsung; Sony; LG; Huawei; Motorola; Honor; HTC; Nokia. But I would consider buying from: Samsung; Huawei; HTC; and Sony. I could be persuaded to buy from the others, but there will be much more effort required to make me buy.
Brand salience – Salience differs from brand consideration in that it relates to the ability of a brand to be recalled and considered in a buying decision. Building brand salience isn’t easy, but its impact can be profound: if you want customers to buy then you need to be in the set of brands they will turn to when they have to part with cash. But without awareness and consideration you can’t build salience.

Why is brand relevance so important?

Brand relevance is a big driver in buying decisions. The components that create brand relevance are all essential to getting customers closer to purchase. Sure, there are all kinds of other factors along the way that will have a part to play, but without brand relevance you’ll lose out to your competitors time and again.

Creating brand relevance takes time and effort. Not only do you need a good product or service, but you need to understand your audience, who they are, what’s driving them, and then create the kinds of marketing that connects with them. And remember, you won’t necessarily be able to create high brand relevance with everybody in your target audience. Some people might be aware of your brand, but they simply won’t consider purchasing from you. Being relevant isn’t easy.

Next time we’ll take a closer look at brand awareness in its different forms and how important it is in feeding into brand relevance. Click here for the next article.